UScellular announced on Thursday a $1 billion agreement to sell AT&T some of its spectrum licenses, which are not part of the proposed sale of wireless assets to T-Mobile (see 2405280047). T-Mobile is buying “substantially all” of UScellular’s wireless operations in a deal valued at about $4.4 billion, but it's purchasing only some of its spectrum licenses. AT&T agreed it will buy 3.45 GHz spectrum and 700 MHz B/C-block licenses for $1.018 billion. Like an earlier deal with Verizon and two undisclosed carriers, the sale is dependent on closing the proposed T-Mobile transaction. "We are pleased with the significant value that will be realized in the various transactions recently announced," said Laurent Therivel, UScellular CEO: "This agreement adds a fourth mobile network operator, in addition to T-Mobile, to the list of those whose subscribers will benefit from the sale of our spectrum licenses. As with the other mobile network operators, we are confident that AT&T can put it to productive use in communities throughout the U.S.” With the latest transaction, UScellular said it has deals to sell 70% of its total spectrum holdings, excluding high-band spectrum, measured on a MHz/POPs basis. UScellular retains 1.86 billion MHz/POPs of low and mid-band spectrum and 17.2 billion MHz/POPs of millimeter-wave, Therivel said, noting that the most valuable spectrum left to sell is in the C-band. “Our C-band licenses are positioned in an attractive mid-band frequency that can deliver outstanding speed and capacity.” There is “a substantial 5G ecosystem of equipment vendors and existing infrastructure that uses C-band” and “they have a lengthy build-out timeline, with first and second build-out dates of 2029 and 2033, respectively.” The deal “is in line with UScellular’s objective to monetize its remaining spectrum following the transaction with T-Mobile announced in May,” said RBC Capital Markets in a note to investors. The firm estimated that the price for the 3.45 GHz spectrum associated with the sale is 55 cents per MHz/POP, compared with the national average spectrum price of 77 cents during the 2022 auction. The C-band holdings are UScellular’s most valuable unsold band, RBC said, noting an average price of 94 cents MHz/PoP in the 2021 auction: “We view the remaining C-Band licenses as [complementary] to AT&T's and Verizon's holdings.”

SiriusXM Radio told the FCC that its network is more vulnerable than other incumbents to interference from outdoor use of very-low-power devices in part of the 6 GHz band. The company was responding to Apple, which last month downplayed those concerns in meetings at the FCC. “Sirius XM’s satellite-delivered service is unique among satellite providers because of our custom-designed network that provides digital audio and data services primarily to vehicles,” said a filing Tuesday in docket 18-295. The service “is received by these vehicles through low gain, tea cup size satellite antennas installed on vehicle roofs,” SiriusXM said: “These antennas use an extremely low noise amplifier to capture very weak signals near the noise floor from satellites located more than 36,000 kilometers above the Earth.”

T-Mobile said it set a world record speed of 2.2 Gbps for a wireless uplink, using a combination of 2.5 GHz and millimeter wave spectrum, during a test at SoFi Stadium in Southern California. 5G dual-connectivity technology “enables the Un-carrier to aggregate 2.5 GHz and mmWave spectrum, allowing for an insane boost to uplink throughput and capacity,” T-Mobile said this week: “T-Mobile was able to allocate 60% of the mmWave radio resources for uplink where previous use cases typically allowed up to 20%.”

Verizon told the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals the $47 million fine the FCC levied on it in April (see 2404290044) for allegedly not safeguarding data on customers' real-time locations is arbitrary and capricious and that the court should reject it. “The agency ignored the limits of its authority in these multiple ways, in an effort to show force against a large company that did nothing wrong,” the provider said. Verizon said it would appeal the fine at the time the FCC approved it 3-2, with Republican Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington dissenting. The fine was approved four years after Republican Chairman Ajit Pai proposed it. Verizon’s location-based service (LBS) program “used device-location information, and device-location information is not” customer proprietary network information, Verizon said this week in a brief in docket 24-1733. By the time the FCC proposed the fine, “Verizon had shut down its LBS program nearly one year earlier, eliminating any potential current or going-forward liability,” it added. Verizon noted that the FCC got involved following a New York Times report that Securus “misused many carriers’ LBS programs and that a sheriff in Missouri took advantage of Securus’s actions to track wireless carriers’ customers without their consent.” But the agency found that the statute of limitations had expired in both cases, Verizon said. The FCC then “adopted a novel approach to generate an eye-popping penalty amount,” the brief said: The agency “punished Verizon for not terminating every other service provider from the LBS program on a faster timeline” imposing “a forfeiture penalty for each day -- starting 30 days after the New York Times article -- that each of the 63 service providers remained able to use the LBS program, despite not being involved in any wrongdoing.” Verizon also argued the order should be overturned given the U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision in SEC v. Jarkesy (see 2406270063). “The Constitution guarantees Verizon a jury trial -- not an administrative adjudication -- before it faces an order compelling it to pay a forfeiture.” AT&T, meanwhile, made similar arguments in its challenge filed in the 5th Circuit against the FCC’s $57 million fine, approved the same time as Verizon's. “The Commission itself has acknowledged that Securus’s misdeeds took place long before the statute-of-limitations period,” AT&T said: “The Commission cites no evidence that Securus ever unlawfully accessed a single AT&T customer’s location information.” AT&T said the FCC accused it of carelessness. “AT&T gave access only to providers with an approved use case; conducted daily audits of consent records and broader programmatic audits; and responded to Securus’s misdeeds promptly and prudently, weighing the costs and benefits at every turn,” AT&T said. “That is far more than the Commission can say for itself, having taken no action (failing even to inform the major wireless carriers) after learning of Securus’s malfeasance nearly a year before AT&T did.”

SI Wireless asked for an additional six months to remove, replace and dispose of Huawei and ZTE equipment from its network. The deadline for SI Wireless was previously extended from May 24 to Nov. 24 (see 2404300031). “Due to a variety of reasons, most notably the FCC’s unexpected current hold on all funding disbursements” the company can’t meet the Nov. 24 deadline, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-89. “The grant of an additional six-month extension, as contemplated by the FCC’s rules, is warranted and in the public interest.”

SpaceX and Japanese telecom operator KDDI expect to launch supplemental coverage from space commercial service in Japan by year's end, representatives of the companies told FCC Space Bureau staffers, according to a docket 23-135 filing posted Tuesday. They said the necessary regulatory arrangements for offering the service are being finalized with Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. As such, they urged the FCC to authorize commercial SCS service in the U.S.

The launch of mobile devices by Apple, Samsung Electronics and Google “sparked intense promotional competition among the US carriers” during Q3, GlobalData said in a report Tuesday. “Telecom giants targeted both new and existing customers with aggressive preorder trade-in offers, switcher deals, and new line promotions aimed at upgraders, seeking to capitalize on demand for high-end smartphones and drive customer retention,” GlobalData said. “Attractive trade in offers featuring up to $1900 off high value flagship devices such as the Galaxy Z Flip6 and Z Fold6 dominated the landscape.” In addition to those two Samsung phones, the report also cited Apple’s iPhone 16 series, Google’s Pixel 9 series and the Motorola Razr series as among the top handsets during the quarter.

Indian Peak Properties believes the FCC erred when it denied its petitions for declaratory ruling in an order on the agency’s over-the-air reception device (OTARD) rules, the company said in a brief this week filed at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (see 2405060035). The FCC told the court its rules require a regular human presence at an antenna's location, and the agency had plenty of evidence that Indian Peak failed to argue its antenna fell within the rule's scope (see 2410210001). In a reply brief, the company said, “This case could have turned out differently had the Commission given notice of its secret procedure and new ‘human presence’ standard.” The FCC claims it “reasonably dismissed Indian’s petitions without starting a proceeding,” Indian Peak said: “Even if the Commission’s actions were reasonable as claimed by the FCC Brief … the agency’s failure to give fair notice of its interpretation of the Rule prejudiced Indian and warrants reversal of the Order.” The D.C. Circuit has not scheduled oral argument in the case (docket 24-1108).

CTIA and other commenters urged the FCC to proceed slowly when finalizing rules for a program that would allow schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services. Reply comments were due Monday in docket 21-31 on a Further NPRM, which was approved as part of the hot spot item in July (see 2407180024). Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington dissented. “Wireless providers are significant contributors to the universal service fund, and CTIA strongly supports the efficient and effective use of all universal service support, including E-Rate funding,” CTIA said. “Stakeholders will be better able to comment on the controls in the program once they have gained experience with them” and “program requirements should not impose burdens that outweigh the program’s benefits, as that could deter participation,” the group said. The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition said the FCC shouldn’t set "overly burdensome administrative requirements or punitive solutions that diminish a school or library’s flexibility to structure its lending practices.” Don’t mandate defined hot spot lending periods, SHLB advised: “Schools and libraries should be able to style their lending practices to better meet users’ educational endeavors.” SHLB also opposed “a data use threshold higher than zero to consider a line ‘used.'” Such thresholds would introduce “assumptions about acceptable and unacceptable broadband use that ignore variables in connectivity needs,” the group said. The North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation and Mobile Beacon jointly called on the FCC to refrain from imposing new rules at this moment. “Adding burdensome new requirements, in the absence of any compelling need, will unnecessarily burden schools, libraries, and other program participants, and make it harder for students to connect,” they said: “The Commission should increase, not restrict, applicant flexibility.” The American Library Association earlier said final rules would be premature (see 2410040033).

NTIA officials met with staff from across the FCC to urge the agency to move forward on handset unlocking rules similar to those proposed in an NPRM commissioners approved 5-0 in July (see 2407180037). NTIA “supports reducing the burden on consumers by requiring automatic unlocking of devices whenever feasible,” said a filing posted this week in docket 24-186: “NTIA has been working to empower consumers and promote competition in this space for a long time, and we provided the Commission with some background on our experiences to date.” NTIA doesn’t oppose the 60-day waiting period proposed in the NPRM, “and we appreciate the anti-fraud goals that drive this proposal,” the filing said. “We also maintain that there should be no distinction in the rules between devices sold with prepaid and postpaid plans and are unconvinced by arguments that the prepaid subsidy model only works with locked devices.” NTIA noted that Verizon is required to unlock prepaid devices the same as postpaid devices, yet still offers “subsidized devices for use with prepaid services.” The rules should also cover tablets and other devices and not just handsets, NTIA said. Representatives of Public Knowledge, Consumer Reports and New America’s Open Technology Institute, meanwhile, said they spoke with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks about unlocking rules. “A policy of automatically unlocking of all phones, both pre- and post-paid, 60 days after purchase would promote … goals of promoting competition in the handset and wireless markets, while preserving the ability of carriers to detect and prevent fraud and to offer low-cost handsets,” the groups said.